Songs to just move to

Band: !!!
Song: Dear Can (Stream)
Album: Louden Up Now (2004) (Buy)

I typically go through phases of listening to certain bands, genres and songs for a number of days before I get bored and move on to something else. This will probably be reflected in the articles I write in future, but I find Dear Can impossible to tire of. Really.

Just as !!! (chk chk chk) reside in that grey area between a dance outfit and an indie band, Dear Can resides in a sort of grey area between an instrumental and a full blown song. It has words, but they work more to allow the vocals of Nic Offer and John Pugh to function rhythmically. Sometimes it’s unclear what exactly is being sung, and to a greater extent, what the hell it's about (‘Burn the maps/the maps burn’‘I know you want more’ ). A friend of mine once said that she couldn't enjoy instrumentals because they can't have any meaning because they have no words. I see where she was coming from to a degree, but if anything, Dear Can is an example of the opposite; these lyrics mean absolutely nothing, but that’s part of the joy. They’re just phrases, repeated again and again – more riffs in a jam than lyrics.

3 steady bass drum blasts serve as the backbone for the majority of the song, over the course of which it becomes the most infectious beat in the world. I defy you to find a better one. The interplay of two guitars producing a recurring motif, cymbals, bells, shakers, and spacey keyboard sounds intertwine and drift in and out of each other demanding that you move. Around the 80 second mark the bass kicks in and you have no choice. It's amazing.

At times Dear Can meanders into 'ambient' sections typical of !!!. In other cases, (Must Be the Moon, Bend Over Beethoven) this is a trope that can take away from the inherent rhythm of their songs, but anchored with such a strong, relentless beat, these are used to best effect, giving the track some necessary breathing space.

There are a lot of elements used throughout the course of the song, including some unexpected brass, but it never feels overwhelming. Each musical line is subtle enough not to overshadow any of the others, whilst still adding something more to the song. Like the majority of dance songs, there's a breakdown, which highlights the nonsensical vocals of Offer and Pugh (can anyone work out what they’re singing?), before dropping into a typical 4-on-the-floor beat. It’s not a massive, anthemic drop by any stretch of the imagination, but this kind of subtlety allows Dear Can to bury itself into your head as well as being hella danceable, and I think it's all the better for it. However, it may not be the most accessible of songs, but it becomes so much more in spite of and perhaps because of this.

It may not have meaning, but it represents where I think my friend has missed the mark completely. Meaning isn't what this music is about, it's about feeling, and I don't think that there are many words out there that could give me the same feeling sheer escapism and elation that Dear Can does. Besides, who needs meaning when you have groove by the truckload?